Review: the Tempelhof (British Airways) lounge at Berlin Brandenburg Airport

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• acewoking says:

  17 Mar17 March 06:58

  Don’t be a numpty like me and miss the lounge because you followed instructions. An airport attendant directed us up the escalators in the main photo and before we knew it we’d cleared passport control. At the gate. 2 hours early. And there was literally no way back to the lounge.

  • Bagoly says:

    17 Mar17 March 21:23

    One good thing about BER is the screens showing which security lanes have queues how long.
    Usually the shortest is the ones right at the south end, underneath this lounge.
    I think they are called 5.
    The standard route then takes one back to the centre through the duty-free shops.
    But I did notice some lifts immediately behind the security.
    If one takes those, does one come up near the lounge?

• DaveJ says:

  17 Mar17 March 07:01

  “ I certainly wouldn’t rush to the airport purely to give the Tempelhof lounge a try”

  I wouldn’t go to any airport purely to give a lounge a try

  • HAM76 says:

    17 Mar17 March 08:03

    I flew on a redemption ticket to LHR to visit all Plaza Premium Arrival lounges, back in pre-covid times. My OnBusiness points would have expired otherwise. It was a fun day walking around LHR without the need to go anywhere specific.

    • Rob says:

      17 Mar17 March 08:53

      When T5 opened, a big group from Flyertalk turned up on Day 1 on fully flex BA tickets to check out the lounges, then left the airport and got a refund 🙂

      • DaveJ says:

        17 Mar17 March 10:46

        Each to their own

      • BahrainLad says:

        17 Mar17 March 22:29

        Actually, they weren’t fully flex – I believe most of us intended to travel that day. But everything was cancelled hence we had to leave airside!

• NorthernLass says:

  17 Mar17 March 07:34

  It was surprisingly difficult to find the train on arrival at BER! Not even the staff seemed to know, lol.
  My PP app said there’s a Movenpick cafe where you can get a certain amount of euros credit but we had a look and it only sold a very limited assortment of sandwiches and drinks so we didn’t bother.

• Alex says:

  17 Mar17 March 07:41

  I want to add to some of the comments up thread. The lounge is BEFORE passport control. Once you’re through you’ll have to come up with a convincing excuse to get back Schengen-side (a European passport seemed to help).

  And this is a big plus, there is a dedicated passport control as you exit the lounge, and it’s usually very quiet. Ask the staff. But don’t go back to the main hall because that passport queue can get busy.

• John says:

  17 Mar17 March 07:54

  So, there is a back door from the lounge that leads to a staircase bringing you to non Schengen passport control, is that correct?

  • planeconcorde says:

    17 Mar17 March 07:57

    The black glass door in the fourth photo leads directly to a separate passport control on the same level as the lounge. There is no stair case.

    • Rob says:

      17 Mar17 March 08:33

      This door is usually closed.

      • planeconcorde says:

        17 Mar17 March 09:24

        In all the times I have used this lounge the door has been in position shown in the photo. But unlocked so it can be used to access two passport control desks on the other side of the door.

      • Mark says:

        17 Mar17 March 09:28

        That’s odd, I’ve been through there several times and always exited straight through that door to the mini passport control just ahead of the non-Schengen gates. Perhaps there was no one available for that passport control when you visited.

      • dougzz99 says:

        17 Mar17 March 09:32

        3 for 3 in the door being open, well unlocked rather than open.

        • Bagoly says:

          17 Mar17 March 21:18

          +1

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    17 Mar17 March 14:31

    There is NO staircase!

    Walk through that door and it’s a few feet to the passport control and it’s all level going to the non Schengen gates.

• Matthias says:

  17 Mar17 March 07:56

  Having been there a couple of times recently, I concur that the lounge is somewhat sterile, though the food pretty decent. Dedicated passport control excellent but can sometimes be shut so make sure to double check.

  One additional tip regarding security, they have a free online pre booking system for 15 minute time slots called ‘BER Runway’, which I have twice used. If you turn up on time, you literally walk straight up to security screening and past the giant queues for both normal and ‘priority’ security. There’s a dedicated BER Runway entrance in the middle of security.

  Indeed BER overall is a mystery wrapped in an enigma..

• Jim Sinclair says:

  17 Mar17 March 08:02

  I despise Brandenburg airport. I agree the signage is terrible, not for just transport but for everything. The BA check in is totally disorganised. The security is a joke, only 2 people can stand at the tray desks at a time. The trays are tiny, necessitating those loathsome people who travel with the kitchen sink etc in their ‘hand’ luggage needing to faff about with 5 or 6 trays (I’ve seen this) causing frustration, and once in me, anger. If it is busy it is interminable. After exiting passport control there are hardly any facilities to eat or drink, only the actual departure gates and their seats. One thing, it is spotless. This hole was 10 years late and billions over budget. I love Germany but all this ‘German efficiency’ nonsense is now a myth. Every time I go back, which is very often, another thing seems to have gotten worse/and things run late.

  • Dan says:

    17 Mar17 March 15:24

    Don’t get me started on FRA T3 security… Efficiency at its worst!!

    Visited the BER lounge couple days ago:
    Views are great
    It’s clean and minimal, quiet
    Drink selection is awful
    Food is dreadful
    Pretzels are the only saving grace as long as you don’t pick up a dried out one.

    The walkway from the lounge passport control to the gate was deserted, which I believe spans most of gates C and D.

    Bonus point, the Carsharing (think Zipcar) parking spot outside the terminal had plenty of vendors to choose from and 100+ cars available when I was there. From Fiat 500s all the way up to Audi A4s.

    Other than that, shoddy airport.

    • Dan says:

      17 Mar17 March 15:24

      T2 in Frankfurt.

      • Bluekjp says:

        17 Mar17 March 20:03

        Flew back from Frankfurt T2 yesterday. Two immigration officers to deal with about 100 people. It was pathetic. Then security made immigration look efficient. Tiny, tiny trays, hopelessly slow workers without a care in the world trying their best to work as slowly as possible. The BA flight had to be delayed about 20-30 minutes because of passengers stuck at security. This would have been the passengers in the Sakura lounge. I left 10 minutes ahead of the general lounge announcement that boarding had commenced (the lounge attendant had told me what time he was likely to announce boarding) and was jolly pleased that I had. I could only think to myself that Heathrow knocks spots off this lot and was I really in Germany?

• Pgp says:

  17 Mar17 March 08:11

  We are a frequent visitors to Germany as our son lives there. Especially travelling to Berlin from gatwick. We have used the lounge each time and we have a priority pass through Nat west. And did not have any issues to access it.
  I agree with the HfP , food is hit and miss. As no options for vegan. But just to relax before flight home is and ideal place especially the pods at the far end of the lounge. If I have to pay for it then I would not bother with it..

  • Nick says:

    17 Mar17 March 09:42

    NatWest don’t issue priority pass though, do they? Only dragonpass? It’s important because only one of the two is accepted.

    • Rob says:

      17 Mar17 March 09:52

      Yes, DragonPass.

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